Headlight with resiliently mounted sealed-beam bulb



Dec. 2, 1952 G. E. EDMUNDS 2,520,434

NTLY MOUNTED SEALED-BEAM BULB HEADLIGHT WITH RESILIE Filed Oct. 19, 1949 7 //vvE/v7-o/2; GLENN E EDMUNDS ATTY Patented Dec. 2, 1952 I HEADLIGHT WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED SEALED-BEAM BULB Glenn E. jEdmunds, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application October 19, 1949, Serial No. 122,216.

3 Claims. (Cl. 240--90) This invention relates to a headlight, and an object of the invention'is to provide a headlight involving a heavy protecting casing in which a sealed-beam combination bulb and reflector is resiliently mounted by improved mounting means which also accurately positions the sealed-beam bulb, the complete unit being adapted for use under very adverse conditions, such as in a coal mine.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view, with parts broken away, showing the headlight of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevational view thereof, with the sealed-beam bulb shown in full elevation;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, with parts broken away. showing the construction of one of the resilient mounting members; and

Fig. 4 is a view of a portion of the sealed-beam bulb.

Electric headlights, as used in .mining machinery, are subject to very severe shock, such as that occasioned by falling slate and the like. Consequently, it is necessary to provide a very heavy casing for the bulb. With the advent of the sealed-beam bulb which constitutes a combination bulb and reflector, it has become important to mount the sealedebeam bulb resiliently in the casing so as to prevent damage to it or to the filament thereof, due, to the shock incident to falling slate, coal, or other accidents which sometimes occur in coal mines.

It is also necessary to align the sealed-beam bulb properly as it generally is of dual filament construction and, in any event, the front surface of the bulb is generally provided with defleeting prisms which require proper alignment.

As illustrated in the drawings, the headlight is of the explosion-proof type and it includes a casing or housing It! preferably made of heavy cast steel, or the like, which is provided with a removable front closure assembly including a rim II having a circumferential flange which is. adapted to he slid intoand have close contact with a peripheral notch in the open face of said casing or housing I5. 7, The rim II is removably attached to the casing H] by a pair of screws l2, one on each side, which extend freely through openings in Wings 13 of the rim H, and thread into threaded holes on wings 14 formed integral with the housing H], The rim 1 l carries a heavy '2 protecting glass closure element [5 preferably provided with a peripheral gasket 15 and removably held in place by a snap ring ll adapted to be received in a cooperating groove in the rim H. Resiliently mounted within the casing 10 is a sealed-beam bulb l8 which constitutes a combination light bulb and reflector of standard design. The sealed-beam bulb i8 is of a somewhat distorted generally oval shape, in which there is a rear cup-shape or generally parabolical portion, the periphery of which extends to what in effect is a rim of the forward lens portion.

The rear peripheral parabolical portion or surface of the bulb I8 is received in a circumferential sheet metal ring is of generally frusto-conical shape. The outer surface of the rear portion of said bulb I8 is provided with a plurality of projections or bosses 20, one of which is seen particularly in Fig. 4 of the drawings. There are preferably three of said projections or bosses 28 spaced at difierent angles from a horizontal plane through the center or axis of the bulb [8 when it is properly positioned, the three projections being so located that they can be received in only one position in three cooperating notches 0r openings 2| formedlin the ring I9, thus insuring a predetermined relation between the bulb l8 and the ring 19. ,1

The ring [9 is resiliently mounted within and spaced from the inner walls of the rear portion of the casing l0 and is also held against rotation.

To this end there is a pair of lower resilient spring members 22 and a pair of upper resilient spring members 23 which resiliently mount the ring I9 and thus cooperate to mount the bulb l8 resiliently in the casing in. The spring members 22 and 23 are similar, except for a small difference to be pointed out hereinafter;

The construction of one of the spring members 23 is illustrated in Fig- 3 of the drawings and will now be described. It includes a hollow cylindrical portion 24 adapted to receive a helical spring 25, one end of which is removably attached to the cylinder 24 by a. cross pin 26. The cylindrical member 24 has a projection 2! adapted to have a tight fit in a receiving hole in the casing [0. The free end of'the sprin'g25 is attached to a pad 28 havinga central integral post 29 which extends into the helical spring 25 and is removably attached thereto by a cross" pin 30. The pad 28 of each of the spring members 23, which are at the top of the casing l0,"abuts the upper surface of the ring 19. The spring members 22 differ from the spring members 23, principally in that pads 28 and pins 30 are eliminated, and the posts 29 are riveted or otherwise rigidly attached to the ring 19, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. In other words, the spring members 22 not only resiliently support the ring l9 from the casing l9, but they also prevent relative rotation between the two, thus insuring proper alignment of the bulb l8 which, as previously set forth, is keyed or locked to the ring l9 so as to prevent relative rotation between the two.

The four spring members 22 and 23 have a component of force which tends to move the bulb l8 and ring [9 forward or to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2 of the drawings, their radial forces being substantially balanced. To counteract the resultant force of the spring members 22 and 23 tending to move the bulb forward and'to cooperate therewith to provide the resilient support of said bulb IS, the rim H is provided with four spring members 31 which are identical in construction with the spring members 23. Furthermore, the spring members 3| are preferably positioned directly opposite one of the spring members 22 or 23. It is evident that when the rim H is removed, access is provided to the interior of the casing l and to the bulb is which is automatically free to be removed therefrom. Likewise, when said rim H is put in position, the spring members 3| will oppose and cooperate with the spring members 22 and 23 to hold the bulb [8 in the ring l9 position and to hold the ring l9 substantially centered within the casing 0, since the resultant force of the spring members 3| along the axis of the bulb l8 opposes that of the spring members 22 and 23, the radial components of these forces balancing out.

From the above description it is evident that an improved headlight has been provided, in which a sealed-beam type of bulb is resiliently mounted and simultaneously held against rotation so that it will be properly aligned in position in the casing Ill when the complete headlight assembly is in its assembled position. Severe jars and shock to the casing Ill will not be transmitted to the bulb l8 with sufiicient force to break it under normal shock conditions, since the shock will be absorbed by the spring members 22, 23 and 3|.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and applicant therefore wishes not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of the invention, what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A headlight including an explosion-proof housing, said housing including a rear casting having an open front and a closure means for said open front including a glass, a sealed-beam bulb in said housing facing said glass and having a generally parabolic rear surface and a rearwardly extending alignment projection, means resiliently mounting and centering said bulb and holding it against rotation within said housing including a sheet metal ring of generally frustoconical shape in which the rear generally parabolic surface of said bulb seats and a notch into which said rearwardly extending alignment projection on said bulb projects, spaced spring means interposed between said ring and said rear casting urging said ring forward and substantially centering it in said rear casting, at least one of said spring means operating to prevent significant rotation of said ring means within said housing, and spaced spring means interposed between said closure means and the front of said bulb acting upon the latter to urge it into said ring and acting in opposition to said first named spring means whereby all of said spring means cooperate to center said bulb and ring within .said housing.

2. A headlight including a housing, said housing including a rear casing having an open front and a rim means for said open front including an opening, a sealed-beam bulb in said housing facing said opening and having a generally parabolic rear surface and a rearwardly extending alignment projection, means resiliently mounting and centering said bulb and holding it against rotation within said housing including a sheet metal ring of generally frusto-conical shape in which the rear generally parabolic surface of said bulb seats and an opening into which said rearwardly extending alignment projection on said bulb projects, spaced spring means interposed between said ring and said rear casing urging said ring forward and spacing it from the walls of said rear casing, at least one of said spring means operating to prevent significant rotation of said rin means within said housing, and spaced spring means interposed between said rim means and the front of said bulb acting upon the latter to urge it into said ring and acting in opposition to said first named spring means whereby all of said spring means cooperate to center said bulb and ring within said housing.

3. A headlight including a casing, a sealedbeam bulb therein having a generally parabolic rear surface and a rearwardly extending alignment projection in said casing, means resiliently mounting said bulb and holding it in proper alignment, said means including a sheet metal ring of generally frusto-conical shape including a notch in which the generally parabolic surface of said bulb and the projection thereon are received, spaced resilient spring means interposed between said ring and said casing urging it in a generally forward direction and centering it within said casing, at least one of said spring means operating to prevent significant rotation of said ring means Within said casing, and spaced spring means acting upon said bulb to urge it into said ring and acting in opposition to said first named spring means whereby all of said spring means cooperate to center said bulb and ring within said casing.

GLENN E. EDMUNDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,159,871 Worden et al. May 23, 1939 2,194,373 Wright Mar .19, 1940 2,205,642 Arbuckle June 25, 1940 2,285,591 Larsen June 9, 1942 2,445,072 Lee July 13, 1948 

